The Invasion of a Generation: History and Experiences of Ukraine

from swarthmore college from swarthmore college this is this is this is this is war news radio

i spent the whole day volunteering i made nets like to mask things and after that i went to

the logistics facility although it's not a logistics facility

it was

this is mike a ukrainian citizen sharing part of his experience of the russian invasion of ukraine

we also interviewed professor bob weinberg to give us a brief overview of how this conflict began

i teach european and russian history at swarthmore college i think

i think

it goes back probably to the breakup of the soviet union and the establishment of an

independent ukraine as a sovereign state that russia in the 90s acknowledged and recognized

diplomatically and so ukraine which had been part of the russian empire and the soviet union for

since the 17th late 17th century

is finally

an independent country

however the fall of the soviet union led to a rise of russian irridentism and the desire to restore their nation's former glory

it's not that they want a restoration of the soviet union or restoration of communism but they want a

restoration of russian imperial greatness and ukraine for them is an obvious choice a target for a group of people in ability to

dögehen

for a group of people or for a country that should be reintegrated into a

greater Russia. So things had began to diverge after 1991 when Ukraine

becomes an independent country and begins to promote the speaking and the

writing and reading of Ukrainian as the national language but many of

these cities regions are very bilingual as are the families. They have a lot of

mixed families of Russian people of Russian and Ukrainian descent and very

and so the people growing up in these families have a mixed identity.

Over the next two decades the rise in pro-western sentiments among the Ukrainian

population led to clashes with the pro-Russia government. This led to the

Euromaidan revolution in 2014 which saw the old government replaced with the

pro-Russian.

So Maidan and the meant that Putin lost a loyal ally with the exile of Yanukovych

from Kiev to Russia and had to then deal with a new government that was looking

towards Western Europe, looking towards the West for its

future. And that didn't sit well with Putin. I think Putin has to some extent a

reasonable concern that Ukraine might join NATO and certainly that would give

rise to concerns that Russia's being surrounded by what he believes are

hostile forces. He tried to sell the invasion,

special operations as he calls it, is that he's trying to save Russians living

in Ukraine from death that they were going to be subject or are subject to

genocidal tendencies by the Ukrainian government and so he's playing on this

historical knowledge and blowing it out of proportion and to say that this is a

good thing and to say what he's trying to do is save Ukraine and Russia from a Nazi resurgence.

We sat down with a Ukrainian civilian named Mike, a resident of Lviv, who described his

experiences living through the first weeks of the invasion.

Okay, so I'm going to start with what was happening before the invasion. The last few

weeks of February, everybody was quite anxious. And the general sentiment was that there was

anxiousness and there was aailing anxiety. Several people told me that

they couldn't wait for the war to either start or not start. So I was mentally prepared for the war.

However, there was a disconnect between the government and civilian position on

whether or not war would break out. It seems like everybody was certain it was going to

happen. Here in Ukraine, our newspapers and

our governments basically said the same thing, that Russia is not ready for an invasion,

so an invasion can't happen. Well, it didn't stop them. But generally what was expected

was some kind of escalation into a bus, or maybe a limited missile strike, not a full-scale

invasion. I think I went to sleep at around 2 or 3 a.m., and when I was looking at Twitter

beforehand, there were people talking about how the airports will be getting closed down

with vehicles, so I had a suspicion that the war was going to start the next morning. Well,

it didn't. I was awoken by my mother having a breakdown over her family getting shot in

hospital.

As it turned out later, they were all fine, and they didn't get shot. Well, I was in

a shock. I think I spent an hour lying in bed just looking at the news. Then I got up

and spent the rest of my day at my computer looking at the news.

I was supposed to have school that day. We obviously didn't have it, but a few of our

teachers had lessons online, but we basically talked about the war. I didn't really feel

anything. Well, on the first day, I was too shocked to do anything. On the second day,

I texted some of my friends, who, anyway, are part of youth organizations, to ask them what

I could do to help the military. I think the most important time was the first two

weeks. That's what made or broke the war. Like, what was it? There were a lot of people

who had helped the military in 1918 and onwards, who formed the core for this mobilization

of the army. After that, I spent the whole day volunteering. I made nets, like, to mask

things. And after that, I went to a logistics facility. Although, it was not a logistics

facility. It was an art center before the war. To sort and lodge various aid meant for

both the military and refugees.

And after the next couple of days, I did more or less the same things. Probably the most

recent thing I did was make molotovs. And we have school again. Although, it's four

lessons, four days a week. So, I get up at, like, 8 a.m. I go sit at my lessons for five

hours, I think. And afterwards, I either go to some volunteering work, or just relax,

or go shopping. Well, make groceries. Basically, all of the shops and most businesses are open,

and they are pretty well stocked now. There was some panic buying in the first few days,

but everything got restocked quite quickly. It's nothing like it was before the war, but

it is stable. People go to work. They get paid. The economy works. There's still a curfew.

I think it's 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. But some cities are still closed, and some cities are still

closed. Also, Ukraine have cancelled in time. There's an air raid sirens generally maybe

twice a day. But Lviv itself only got hit twice. So, we don't really pay much attention

to them. Half the people I know left. A lot of people left for Poland, obviously. But

some people left for Russia. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I

don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't

know. I don't know. I don't know. I just want to make sure that though, I'm

not dragging that far.

This feeling of unity was also identified by Prof. Weinberg as a national phenomenon

Ukrainian national identity. That's a civic identity that has nothing to do

with culture, because many of the people living in Ukraine would identify as

Russian, but they also identify as Ukrainian citizens and oppose what

Russia is doing." We asked Mike about misconception he sees surrounding the

war.

He is directly opposed to Ukrainian independence. Like, Russia traces

history back to the Kievan Rus', which is, well, based in Kiev. So, if they accept that

Ukraine is sovereign, then they deny, then they can no longer do that. They are forced

to effectively

cut their history in half. And so, this war can only end in our victory, or all of Ukraine

getting taken. Well, I suppose there could be a ceasefire for 20 years, or something

like that, but either Ukraine goes or Russia goes.

Mike's aspirations for his future have been affected by the war as well.

So,

again,

I'll stop here.

Ok, so

it's unlikely serious the war ends before I get to enlist. I'm just going to finish

my CS degree and stay in Ukraine. The same way as I was planning before the war.

Except I might move to say Kiev or Kharkiv, once I rebuild. I got scared of panic on doing

that.

So, if the war lasts as long as I expect, and I get to fight.

Again,

It all depends on how I take to serving in the military.

I might end up pursuing a military career.

It seems like something that would be quite prestigious and well paid after the war.

Or I might demobilize and go to CS.

Since the majority of CS jobs in Ukraine are mainly centered on Western or Foreign operations,

it's unlikely that the IT market will be considerably affected by the devastation due to the war.

Mike shared some final words on how we can help Ukraine in its struggle.

Okay.

So, if you want to help Ukraine, do not donate to the Red Cross.

There has been considerable corruption in the war market in Ukraine,

and it has been helping Russia with deporting people to Siberia, for example, from Mariupol.

If you want to help civilians, donate to some credible Ukrainian charity.

Okay.

And if you want to help the military, donate to Come Back Alive, I think it's called.

It's a very prominent charity, or NGO, let's say.

We're War News Radio, a project of Swarthmore College.

This episode was written and produced by Ben Pauly, Jace Flores, Ethan Pintar, Sadie Smart,

and Sophia Becker.

You can find more reporting at warnewsradio.org.

Look out for more from War News Radio wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for watching.

We'll see you next time.

Bye.

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